The Western regional director will discuss criticisms with Northwest politicians and airport officials

Friday, August 25, 2000

By Richard Read of The Oregonian staff

The top immigration official in the Western United States will face outraged Northwest politicians and officials Monday at a meeting in Portland.

Johnny Williams, U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service Western regional director, said Thursday he was "very distressed and very concerned" about the treatment of an innocent Chinese businesswoman jailed last weekend by INS inspectors who made her strip to her underwear for a search.

The incident, first reported by The Oregonian on Wednesday, has launched the INS and elected officials into action after months of controversy over INS practices at Portland International Airport.

As INS headquarters launched an investigation, Williams said he had told David Beebe, the embattled INS Portland district director, to report to him for "pointed discussions" Monday morning. The meeting involving Williams, elected officials and other invited people will occur that afternoon at the airport, arranged by Rep. Brian Baird, D-Wash.

Williams said Thursday he would wait to respond to widening calls for Beebe's ouster.

"I'm not yet ready to make such a critical decision like that until I have complete results of the incident at hand," Williams said during a phone call from Texas, where he was traveling.

An expert from the INS Office of Internal Audit worked in Portland at Beebe's request Thursday, investigating the case of Guo Liming, the woman who was jailed for two nights by airport inspectors who suspected her passport was doctored. Elected officials ranging from U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash., to Gov. John Kitzhaber want Beebe to resign, citing months of controversy.

Gorton called Thursday for an investigation by the INS inspector general, following a similar request by Kitzhaber and others to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno. U.S. Reps. David Wu, Darlene Hooley, Earl Blumenauer and Peter DeFazio, all D.-Ore., signed a letter to INS Commissioner Doris Meissner, requesting Beebe's removal and accusing his office of racial profiling.

Meissner agreed Thursday to meet with members of the Northwest congressional delegation in Washington, D.C., next month to discuss INS Portland management, said Joe Shoemaker, chief of staff for Baird.

Beebe struck a more conciliatory tone during an interview Thursday, saying he had just sent a letter profusely apologizing to Guo for the strip search and for inspectors' apparent failure to notify anyone of her whereabouts during the two nights she spent in jail in The Dalles.

Beebe said it was the first time he had sent such a letter of apology in 12 years as district director. He disclosed that inspectors apparently failed to notify the Chinese consulate that one of their citizens was in U.S. custody, as required by local policy. Beebe also said he had "strong suspicions" there was not enough evidence to warrant a strip search of Guo.

Inspectors are supposed to conduct a pat-down search of every person they take into custody, Beebe said Wednesday. If the pat-down yields suspicions of a concealed item, inspectors must ask a supervisor to authorize a strip search by an inspector of the same gender as the traveler. A supervisor of the same gender must be present.

But an INS airport supervisor interviewed Tuesday by The Oregonian explained the procedure differently and described what happened to Guo.

"There are two ways to do the body search," said Christine Pool, supervisory immigration inspector. "One way is to leave the clothes on and then pat the person down. You're touching all over their body."

The other way is for the traveler to take off everything except underwear in the presence of an inspector and supervisor. The inspector searches the clothes and visually inspects the traveler.

"That's the two basic ways to do that," Pool said. "It's generally up to the inspector. Some people would prefer not to be touched and some persons would prefer not to be looked at."

Beebe and other senior Portland INS officials did not know that Guo was strip searched until a reporter for The Oregonian told them of her allegation Tuesday.

Pool said Tuesday that the inspector treated Guo, 36, as follows after directing her to undress:

"She didn't actually lay hands on her. And she did have another female in there. She just looked at the front, turned around, looked at the back. And the inspector searched the seams of the clothes and things like that."

Pool declined Thursday to discuss the discrepancy between her and Beebe's description of the strip-search policy.

In other developments Thursday, INS officials said that the agency would appoint an acting port director to manage its Portland airport operations after the previously scheduled retirement of the current director.

"He's supposed to be no-nonsense, roll-up-your-sleeves, get the job done," said Virginia Kice, INS Western region public affairs director. Roberson has extensive experience with Pacific Rim cultures, Kice said, and with trouble-shooting at Los Angeles International Airport.